Two manuscripts on political leaders and foreign policy making by Baris Kesgin, assistant professor of political science, and his co-authors were recently published in the Journal of International Relations and Development and Political Psychology.
Two manuscripts on political leaders and foreign policy making by Baris Kesgin, assistant professor of political science at Elon, and his co-authors were recently published in the Journal of International Relations & Development and Political Psychology. In both papers, Kesgin and his colleagues examine the influence of characteristics of political leaders on foreign policy with case studies from Turkey.
Kesgin and coauthors’ second article “Personality or Role? Comparisons of Turkish Leaders Across Different Institutional Positions” is a significant contribution to leadership studies for its problematization of change and stability in personality traits in different political offices. The authors’ research on three Turkish politicians (Suleyman Demirel, Abdullah Gul, and Turgut Ozal) as prime ministers and presidents suggest relative stability in personality traits. The paper points at venues to further explore the interaction between personality and political contexts. Political Psychology is the premier, peer-reviewed journal in the interdisciplinary field of political psychology.
Kesgin has been collaborating with Esra Cuhadar of Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey, Juliet Kaarbo of the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, and Binnur Ozkececi-Taner of Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota, in recent years. The authors are scheduled to deliver a new manuscript on the evolution of Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s leadership traits at the International Society of Political Psychology annual convention in Edinburgh in June. At the convention, Kesgin will serve as the co-chair for the section on Leadership and Political Personality.